The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of measuring contamination particles generated during manufacturing of semiconductor devices and an analysis method therefor.
More particularly, in one embodiment the present invention relates to an apparatus having the ability to measure individually the contamination particles in a gas utility pipe itself or in each component of a system used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device by a unit process consisting of the components by using a particle shedding system. In a further embodiment, the invention also relates to a method of measuring the contamination particles by using the apparatus of the first embodiment and a method of analyzing the type, the structure and the amounts of contamination particles by sampling contamination particles existing in a gas pipe or in a test sample generated in a pipe of the apparatus which measures contamination particles generated during manufacturing of semiconductor devices.
In view of the advanced manufacturing techniques and high integration of semiconductor devices, contamination particles generated during manufacturing of the semiconductor devices have a direct influence on the yield and the quality of the devices. Accordingly, it is very important to analyze for the presence of contamination particles and to control the level of contamination to the extent possible. However, until this point in time there has been no method for controlling the contamination particles generated from an apparatus during manufacturing of a semiconductor device, i.e., a total gas delivery system (GDS) and in each component constituting the system (for example, a gas filter, a mass flow controller (MFC), and an air valve).
Therefore, if contamination particles are generated from the apparatus for the unit process, it is necessary to find a technique where the contamination particles generated from the GDS are measured and sampled, the structure and elements thereof are analyzed, and the analyzed data are compared with the contamination particles generated from the apparatus for the unit process.
Further, if a contamination particle is generated inside the apparatus or on a wafer, it is necessary to make a reference where contamination particles generated from the GDS are classified. It is also necessary to analyze the structure and make-up (elements) of the contamination particle or particles generated from each gas used for each process of manufacturing semiconductor devices and to thereby systematically classify them.
Many utility components for each use are installed in the GDS which delivers gas for manufacturing semiconductor devices to reaction chambers. The contamination particles generated from the component exert a harmful influence on a following component and cause particle contamination in an actual process.